Martha Scotford Research and Study Collection on Graphic Design 1675-2016 (bulk 1945-2010)

English; Italian; German; Russian; French, Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit, Latin

Martha Scotford was a professor of graphic design in the College of Design at North Carolina State University until 2013; she began as a visiting lecturer in Visual Design in 1981. She was raised in New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and received a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Oberlin College in 1966 and both her Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts degrees in Graphic Design from Yale University in 1970. She has published numerous books related to design. In 2001, she spent five months in India as a Fulbright lecturer. In 2007 she received NC State University's Distance Education and Learning Technologies Gertrude Cox Special Merit Award. Martha Scotford donated this collection to the University to be used as a research and study collection for design and the history of design. Her research interests emphasize women in design and feminist theory.

The Martha Scotford Research and Study Collection on Graphic Design contains materials from 1675 through 2016 including design works and ephemera, publications, files documenting Scotford’s projects, and design-related reference materials relating to graphic design, book design and typography.

The collection includes promotional materials from paper and printing companies and design firms, sample works of graphic design including book jackets, phonographic covers, posters and other works by famous designers. Monographs with notable designs have been included in the Design Works and Ephemera series because of their artistic value. The collection contains a large amount of type and lettering specimen books and reference materials, which represent a wide range of design and art disciplines. Italian design is well represented in both the design journals and monographs series. Drafts, reference materials, and student involvement in Martha Scotford's publishing project of a book of Vladimir Mayakovsky’s poetry designed by El Lissitzky, For the Voice, are included, as well as materials documenting her process of writing a book about graphic designer Cipe Pineles. Books and teaching materials from Scotford’s time in India as a Fulbright lecturer are also included in this collection.

Additionally, a large 17th-century (1607) German Bible received with this collection has been individually cataloged and is stored with the Rare Book Collection. (See http://catalog.lib.ncsu.edu/record/NC State University2841408). The collection includes promotional materials from paper and printing companies and design firms, sample works of graphic design including book jackets, phonographic covers, posters and other works by famous designers. Some publications have been included in the Design Works series because of their value as notable examples of design. The publications and monographs in this collection come from a range of design and art disciplines. Italian design is well represented in both the design journals and monographs series. Martha Scotford's El Lissitsky book publishing project including drafts, reference materials, and student involvement is included in series four, Personal Projects and North Carolina State University College of Design. The collection contains a large amount of type and lettering specimen books and reference materials.

This collection has been arranged into seven series: 1. Design Works and Ephemera 2. Design Monographs and Reference Materials 3. Design Journals and Other Publications Records 4. Personal Projects and North Carolina State University College of Design 5. Type and Lettering Books and Examples 6. Fulbright Materials from India 7. Cipe Pineles Oral Histories 8. Unprocessed Materials

The NC State University Libraries generally claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. Libraries staff are unable to advise on copyright and other legal matters; the user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Helpful resources for assessing copyright include Cornell Libraries' "Copyright Services: Copyright Term and the Public Domain" and copyright.gov. This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information about identifiable living individuals, which may be protected under federal or state laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that there may be legal ramifications for disclosing this information.

The University Archives operates in accordance with the State Public Records Act, with unrestricted access to records not covered by state and federal statutes and regulations.

[Identification of item], Martha Scotford Research and Study Collection on Graphic Design, MC 00434, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC

Gift of Martha Scotford, 2011-2016 (Accession nos. 2011.0259, 2011.0260, 2012.0318, 2013.0157, 2014.0115, 2015.0244, 2016.0337, 2022.0135).

A Bible printed in 1607 in German was removed from the collection and is stored with the Rare Book Collection. See http://catalog.lib.ncsu.edu/record/NC State University2841408

Finding aid created by Judy Allen Dodson, 2011 December; finding aid updated by Todd Kosmerick to reflect additions to the collection, 2012 December; finding aid updated by Gwynn Thayer to reflect additions to the collection, 2013 September; finding aid updated by Sarah Breen to reflect further processing of the collection, 2014 January; digital materials processed by Jessica Rayman, 2016 August; finding aid updated by Taylor de Klerk to reflect additions to the collection, 2017 February; Digital materials processed by Shelly Black, 2024 January.